american dream

I declare: I have a business.

Now I am - officially - a business owner. The logical next question is probably, "What do you do, MamaToo?"

I may buy a Mac. Yes, indeed - I may buy an iMac, and it will be a business expense.

Now you're puzzled, right? Well, it turns out that Mr. Kenobi and I put a lot of thought into purchasing a new home computer. You may recall that this decision is moving from "nice" to "necessary" at lighting speed.

We have also put slightly more thought, over the years, into what exactly I do. From time to time, I am paid for various "consulting" skills. In addition, I have various "community" involvements that may require my professional skills from time to time. All of this has generally fallen under the useful label of "MamaToo's Consulting."

This all worked awkwardly, with me serving as a personal 1099 employee for a few people and collecting about enough to hire a cleaning lady or get a pedicure a couple times a year. Let's be clear: I do not tend to do enough work, nor make enough money, to consider myself part of the American Dream of entrepreneurship. I do, however, use my little office space and computer and various materials for different projects that can be (and sometimes are) billed.

A couple weeks ago, my dear friend Auntie Em recommended I start my own business. She thought I could consolidate the various skills & projects under a single business name, creating a little less confusion at year-end. The business also creates a nice place for "business expenses." Even though there's not much income, it would create an easier way of tracking that around tax time. Since we are buying a computer, and it will be used for this consulting/product making stuff, maybe it will fall into such category.

So, I looked into starting a business. It turns out that there is nothing - nothing - required to file, pay, or do in order to start my own business. I can choose a business name, and pay to register that, but if I keep my own name I don't have to register anything. I simply pay the appropriate taxes at the end of the year, and enjoy business ownership in the meantime. Beauty, mate.

Back to your question: "But WHAT do you do, MamaToo?!" Here's a small list:

1. Marketing Consulting, part I: offering insight & advice to questions about marketing one's business (I know, it's a bit ironic that I'm not doing so for my business.)



2. Marketing Consulting, part II: designing, writing, editing, or producing various print materials



3. Making arrangements for a company holiday party



4. Assembling a mail-merge label list for mom's real estate business



5. Sewing baby slings, complete with illustrated instructions



6. Creating Year Planner calendars, which are probably most useful for busy moms/women



7. Web development (very simple) for a few different small businesses



8. Sewing & teaching others how to make a "Quillow"



9. Creating curriculum for church nursery ministry



10. Blogging (not sure if I want to call this a business skill, but there is potential...)

Okay, that's not an exhaustive list, but it's a little exhausting to look at it and try to figure out the answer to our question. What title, or category, contains this list, and the rest of my potentially billable "work?" I've mostly viewed some of this stuff under the category of "keeping my resume current." Perhaps that's all there is, or maybe consolidating it in one place will bring something else. I'm not sure what God might bring in my path, but this does appear to be a pretty clean and easy step forward.

Let's just say that for now, this - my - business includes some of the things I do. And, like many of you, I'm a Mama, too! :)